Faye and Andrew Stephens have visited Jamaica every year since 2014 to honor their late son Alex’s birthday, but this year, they had what some are calling a horrifying experience.
During the Stephens’ stay at Royalton Jamaica Resort this year, hotel staff created an effigy of their son and displayed in on their bed along with a cake.
Karen Baker, Alex’s godmother, who was also on the trip, had asked hotel staff to decorate the Stephens’ room with balloons and a cake. She never expected hotel employees to create an effigy of Alex and place it on the couple’s bed along with the words “Happy Birthday We miss you Alex” spelled out in flower petals.
A UK couple have been refunded the cost of their five-star holiday in Jamaica after an effigy of their dead son was created in their hotel room https://t.co/pApIaRspTH pic.twitter.com/AbyfYa2Xxp
— ABC News (@abcnews) December 8, 2018
Ms. Baker told the BBC: “Staff had gone through my friend’s wardrobe and stuffed the clothes with towels to make it look like a body on the bed. They even put tears down the face and a can of lager in his hand.”
“I was absolutely horrified – as you can imagine I was sweating and shaking. We just didn’t want our friends to see it.”
Baker removed the effigy before the Stephens could see it.
“I have truly never seen anything like it. I still look at the photographs now and can’t believe somebody thought to do that,” she said.
After the story broke with BBC, the family received a full refund of £1,300 per person (or $1,655 USD) from their travel company TUI.
“We offer our sincere apologies to the Baker party for their holiday experience in Jamaica,” a TUI UK spokesperson told HuffPost UK.
“We’re following up with the hotel and believe it was a misunderstanding with no intention to cause upset. We would like to thank the Bakers for making us aware. We are in direct contact with the group to apologize and offer a gesture of goodwill.”
